Public reaction and organized resistance to U.S. foreign policy is a rich subset
of diplomatic history that is often overlooked in textbooks and teaching. Jim
Zwick’s extensive Web site, Anti-Imperialism in the United States, 1898 -1935,
offers a model for exploring this topic. It introduces the first organizations
that opposed U.S. territorial and economic imperialism and makes their political
analysis, literature, and cultural contribution to U.S. political culture available
to a wide audience.

Largely an archival collection of primary documents related to anti-imperialist
movements with essays that provide historical context, the site is impressive
in its breadth of material. The site brings together hundreds of examples of literature,
essays, political cartoons, photographs, and advertisements from the 1890s through
the 1930s. Zwick provides cogent contextual information for the primary documents
through a series of articles and introductions to the various collections. The
largest collection focuses on the Anti-Imperialist League (1899 to 1921), but
the site includes significant documents related to the major groups that followed
such as the Haiti-Santo Domingo Independence Society, the American Fund for
Public Service Committee on American Imperialism, the All-American Anti-Imperialist
League, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Society for Ethical Culture.

Presenting this span of anti-imperialist organizing reveals the similarities between
the turn-of-the-century movement and nonintervention activists throughout the
twentieth century. One of the strengths of the site is how Zwick explores the
links between movements through individuals such as Oswald Garrison Villard, Moorfield
Storey, Jane Addams, and Scott Nearing, who were active in a wide range of organizations.
Another strength is the inclusion of many hard-to-find documents such as those
by Filipino writers, comprehensive bibliographies for all the topics (including
links to purchase books online), and guides to collections and resources.

The site is organized by type of document, but the categorization is not always
transparent. The History section contains articles and essays by Jim Zwick that
provide context for the primary documents that are organized under Essays and
Platforms. Many of Zwick’s essays in the History section, such as “The
Social Gospel vs. Imperialism”and “Suffrage and Self-Determination:
Women in the Debate about Imperialism,” are followed by links to primary
documents, which makes this section an ideal starting point for working through
the issues and material. The Literature section offers introductions to authors
and poems, stories, essays, and satire by writers such as Mark Twain, Finley Peter
Dunne, Katherine Lee Bates, and Stephen Crane. Discussion pages focus on specific
types of documents or are general forums on anti-imperialism and current events.

Anti-Imperialism in the United States is only one section of a larger site edited
by Zwick, BoondocksNet.com, that encompasses broad notions of U.S. imperialism
and the U.S. place in the world and enriches the anti-imperialist materials. With
sections ranging from “World’s Fairs and Expositions: Defining America
and the World, 1876–1916” to “The Kodak vs. the King” on images
of atrocities in the Congo, Zwick explores the cultural aspects of U.S. imperialism.
The BoondocksNet.com home and search pages also provide links to a large collection
of visual material—political cartoons, advertisements, and photographs. This
site is an incredibly rich and valuable resource for scholars and teachers; its
only shortcoming is the absence of guidance for teachers on how to include this
material in high school or undergraduate history courses.